SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Valley shooting suspect insists he is innocent. 19-year-old Stephen Yohler is charged with first-degree murder relating to the death of 15-year-old Preston Grzogorek.
Court documents filed in Spokane County say surveillance video and several anonymous tips help deputies identify Yohler as the suspect who shot Grzogorek.
The suspect spoke exclusively with our Amanda Roley and claimed he is not guilty.
"If there was surveillance video that showed me at the crime, they would have had me a lot sooner than a month and a half ago," Yohler said. "This happened what April 29, March 29? And then they just picked me up yesterday morning, but they had me on multiple surveillance videos and they say multiple witness accounts and this and that?"
Investigators said Yohler is seen in surveillance video chasing Grzogorek down just before the shooting. on March 29. They used Yohler's driver license photo to identify him in the video.
He said he only knew Grzogorek from snapchat and denies any dispute between them.
"The police have tried to tell me that there was a disagreement between Preston's people and my people," Yohler said. "That's all I know about it."
Kaitlyn Cooper is a friend of Preston's family. She offered a $2,000 reward for information that would lead to an arrest.
"We're glad that he's caught," Cooper said. "But I don't know if justice will ever truly be served because Preston will never come back."
According to an anonymous tip, Yohler flew out of Spokane to Reno just two days after Grzogorek's death.
Court documents say Yohler admitted to his girlfriend he shot Preston six times. She said he was scared and crying when he told her "he had to do it."
She also told detectives Yohler believed the victim wanted him dead.
Yohler appeared in court for first degree murder today. Grzogorek's family was in the courtroom as well, including the victim's sister, Nicole. She said it was difficult to sit through.
"It makes me feel sick to my stomach," Nicole said. "I just want to scream, cry. I don't know---mixed emotions for sure."
Nicole believes her brother was set up that night.
Witnesses and social media conversations have led investigators to believe a young woman used the purchase of vape pens to lure Grzogorek outside his apartment the night he died.
We are not naming her since she has not been formally charged.
Yohler remains in jail on a $1 million bond.